UGA Columns February 9, 2015

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UGA doctoral student studies migration of ­monarch butterflies CAMPUS NEWS

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The University of Georgia The Knights to perform Feb. 12, serve as chamber orchestra in residence

Vol. 42, No. 24

February 9, 2015

www.columns.uga.edu

UGA GUIDE

4&5

New Veterinary Medical Center to be dedicated Feb. 13

By Cindy H. Rice cindyh@uga.edu

Emily Williams

Gregg Allman, left, talks to the crowd at the Georgia Theatre while Alan Dorsey, dean of the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and Katie Black, a music performance major, look on.

Sound investment

UGA will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. to dedicate the College of Veterinary Medicine’s new Veterinary Medical Center, which includes an education building and a state-of-the-art teaching hospital for large and small animals.

The public is invited to attend the ceremony. Parking will be available in the Carlton Street parking deck with shuttles leaving from the front of the veterinary college throughout the afternoon, as parking at the event site will be limited.

Scheduled speakers for the event include Gov. Nathan Deal, University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby, UGA President Jere Morehead, Rep. Terry England (R-Auburn), Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens),

College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Sheila Allen, Hospital Director Gary Baxter and second-year veterinary student Robert Cotton.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be followed by a brief reception and self-guided tours of the new UGA Veterinary Teaching Hospital and Veterinary Education Center, both of which will open in late March.

Located at 2200 College Station Road, construction began on the center in spring 2013 thanks to generous support from the state and private funding. The new facilities, which encompass roughly 300,000 square feet, will enable the college to better meet its students’ educational needs and its current patient care demands.

“The students, faculty and staff of the College of Veterinary Medicine are grateful to the

See DEDICATION on page 8

Rock and blues musician endows scholarship COLLEGE OF EDUCATION to UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music $1.2M NIH grant will be used “When I first started playing experience also has just been so to make third-grade science fun

By Jessica Luton music, I played for myself meaning encouraging,” she said. “Facing jluton@uga.edu A sold-out house at the Georgia Theatre greeted UGA senior Katie Black in early January as she walked onstage with Gregg Allman. Her job was simple—introduce the legendary rock and blues musician prior to a performance in Athens and thank him for establishing a scholarship that will help fund the remainder of her time at UGA. They were joined by Alan Dorsey, dean of the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, who announced the significant endowment in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music to establish the Gregg Allman Music Scholarship.

From the stage, Allman spoke a few words about the personal importance of his endeavor.

that I played to feed the appetite for knowledge,” he said. “I wanted to play because I wanted to play and learn.

“But later on you realize that you can do things for other people while just doing what you love to do,” Allman also said. “And why not pay it forward? This was such a pleasure for me.”

Black, the scholarship’s inaugural recipient, is a music performance major. She works on her vocal talents in the Hodgson School and hones her knowledge of the music industry through the Music Business Program in the Terry College of Business.

“This scholarship will, of course, help fund the remainder of my college career. But the whole

the ‘real world’ after college is something I’ve been anxious about all year, but knowing that so many people believe in me has really helped me to believe in myself.”

Black performs with the UGA Hodgson Singers and other oncampus choirs and plans to pursue a career in arts administration while continuing to sing in choirs and semi-professional settings.

“Meeting Gregg Allman at the Georgia Theatre was so amazing,” Black said. “He was so calm, gracious and down-to-earth. His welcoming demeanor really calmed my nerves before going on stage.

It was such a pleasure to meet him face to face, and introducing him to the sold-out crowd was an

on race and law enforcement.

Tickets are free for students with valid UGACards who pay activity fees on the Athens campus and $5 Soledad O’Brien for everyone else. Tickets are available at the Tate Student Center cashier’s window.

O’Brien will moderate the panel of experts, including economist, author and political commentator Julianne Malveaux and

socio-political comedian W. Kamau Bell.

UGA’s Black History Month observance,“A Century of Black Life, History and Culture,” includes a variety of programs and activities across campus. The series of lectures, performances, movies and discussions celebrates diversity and inclusion on campus, with particular focus given to milestones in African-American culture during the 20th century.

“This year, we will highlight black/African-American historical icons while also honoring the good work of lesser known figures closer

See SCHOLARSHIP on page 8

By Kristen Morales kmorales@uga.edu

A team of researchers in the UGA College of Education is creating the next generation of science curriculum, using touch screens, digital animation and storyboards, thanks to a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

The five-year, $1.2 million grant called SYSTEMS (Stimulating Young Scientists to Engage, Motivate and Synthesize) is funding the development of new software that applies research-based digital teaching methods to a virtual reality game. The software, developed for

third-graders, lets them play the role of veterinarians to diagnose the ailments of Cookies the cat and its sibling, Cream.

Over the Georgia Hodges course of several weeks, students follow the progress of Cookies and Cream while also learning about Type 2 diabetes and how it affects all systems of the body. The first version of the game made its debut at the

See GRANT on page 8

GEORGIA RESEARCH ALLIANCE

Researcher named UGA’s GRA Eminent Scholar ‘Black in America Tour’ will make a stop at UGA newest Research

By Terry Marie Hastings STUDENT AFFAIRS

By Don Reagin

dreagin@uga.edu

UGA’s observance of Black History Month will include a panel discussion hosted by journalist Soledad O’Brien as part of her “Black in America Tour.”

The tour will come to Grand Hall of the Tate Student Center Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. O’Brien will give a presentation in which she will highlight and discuss recent race-related events and show clips from some of her documentaries and pertinent news stories. The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion

See TOUR on page 8

thasting@uga.edu

One of the nation’s leading glycobiology researchers will join the UGA faculty this fall as its newest Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.

Robert Haltiwanger, currently head of biochemistry and cell biology at Stony Brook University, will join UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center as the GRA Eminent Scholar in Biomedical Glycoscience. His addition brings the total number of GRA scholars at UGA to 16.

The Complex Carbohydrate

Center, recognized as a world-class research facility, is devoted to understanding the many important roles Robert Haltiwanger of sugars that are added in diverse complex combinations to proteins and other biological molecules that are responsible for life.

“As a world leader in biomedical glycobiology, Dr. Haltiwanger is conducting research that improves

See SCHOLAR on page 8

2 Feb. 9, 2015 columns.uga.edu

UGA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, UGA EMERITI SCHOLARS

Around academe

Study: Better information needed to attract qualified low-income students

A new study makes the case that lowincome, high-achieving students are choosing not to go to selective colleges because they are getting poor information.

The study by economists Caroline Hoxby of Stanford University and Sarah Turner of the University of Virginia offered evidence that giving students better information about cost, quality and other factors led to better outcomes in choosing affordable, selective colleges.

These low-income students often get tripped up by the listed price of tuition versus how much they would pay with financial aid and are confused by higher education terms, such as “liberal arts.”

FBI: Russian spy ring tried to recruit students at major New York university

The Federal Bureau of Investigation busted an alleged three-man spy ring in New York last month, which the agency said was trying to recruit from a university.

According to the FBI, the spy ring was attempting to “illegally gather economic and other intelligence information from the United States.”

As part of their plan, the alleged spies were trying to recruit residents, “including several individuals employed by major companies, and several young women with ties to a major university located in New York, New York,” according to an FBI news release.

Build a compost bin to reduce waste

News to Use

Resolve to live more sustainably by creating a compost pile to help reduce household waste.

Compost can be used to improve garden soil and make gardens more productive. With organization and a designated space, home gardeners can amend their own soil through composting.

Start by finding a space where the compost can cook. The location should be in full sun, at least 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet, out of the way and with good drainage.

A compost container can be built with materials like welded wire, fencing, pallets or blocks.

Open spaces should be left on the container’s sides to allow air circulation through the pile, and the bottom should be open to the ground.

Almost any organic plant material can be used for composting, including grass clippings, leaves, flowers, weeds, twigs, chopped brush, old vegetable plants, straw and sawdust.

For the best decomposition, mix a variety of materials. The smaller the pieces of organic matter, the faster they will decompose. Once a layer of organic matter is added, add a little garden soil or manure.

Compost is ready when it looks like rich, crumbly earth and the original organic material is gone.

This compost can be added to soil before planting vegetables, trees, shrubs or flowers. It also can be mulch on the soil surface or potting soil for container plants.

For more on how to compost, see UGA ­Extension publication C981 online at http://t.uga.edu/1f5.

Source: UGA Extension

Awesome accounting The Terry College of Business’ J.M. Tull School of Accounting has risen to No. 10 in the latest rankings of best accounting schools published by the Public Accounting Report.

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Brigham Young U. U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Notre Dame U. of Texas, Austin Indiana U. U. of Pennsylvania U. of Southern Calif.

Wake Forest U. of Washington UGA

Source: Accounting Degree Review

Janet Beckley

‘Gigantic step forward’: Founders Day speakers eulogize UGA, Athens

By Aaron Hale

aahale@uga.edu

The two speakers at the Jan. 26 Founders Day Lecture praised the past accomplishments of the university and suggested ways to make it stronger in the future.

A native New Yorker, Paul M. Kurtz, associate dean and professor emeritus in the UGA School of Law, reflected on his experience living in the South for 50 years and commended the university he served for 40 years.

“The University of Georgia is merely the best part of the best town in Georgia,” said Kurtz, who was hired at UGA in 1975.

The Founders Day Lecture was part of Founders Week, which this year marked the 230th anniversary of UGA as the first state-charted university in the nation. The lecture was sponsored by the UGA Alumni Association and the Emeriti Scholars, a group of retired faculty members known for their teaching abilities.

Kurtz’s lecture, “A New York Yankee in Abraham Baldwin’s Court: (Almost) Fifty Years Behind ‘Enemy’ Lines,” drew on the law professor’s status as a Northerner, just like UGA’s first president, Abraham Baldwin, who hailed from Connecticut.

During his humor-filled lecture, Kurtz said that after 50 years in the South, he still doesn’t consider himself a Southerner, but “I believe that over the years, Dixie and I have reached an understanding.”

Kurtz listed some reasons he appreciates the South: The warmth of the people and the cuisine—he likes grits but not pimento cheese. He also listed a few dislikes such as Southern politics and the pro-gun culture.

But then Kurtz took a more serious tone as he described his admiration for the university he served for decades.

“Our university has been the center

Paul Efland

Paul Kurtz, associate dean and professor emeritus in the UGA School of Law, reflected on his experience living in the South for 50 years and commended the university he served for 40 years during the Jan. 26 Founders Day Lecture.

of higher education in this state for well over two centuries,” he said. “The last 40 of those years have seen a gigantic step forward on this campus.”

Kurtz listed higher admission standards, better graduate programs and award-winning student and faculty members as proof of the university’s development.

“I’m exceedingly proud of being a very small part of the maturing of this wonderful institution of higher learning,” he said.

Kurtz also praised the city of Athens for its architecture, commitment to serving others, arts and culture.

“Athens is a place to which all Georgians gravitate, especially those who have attended school here,” he said.

Carey Miller, a 2012 UGA alumnus and current law school student body president, delivered the student response to Kurtz’s lecture.

A Chestnut Mountain native and self-proclaimed “hunting, red-voting, wear-khakis-to-the-football-game” kind of Georgian, Miller offered a

homegrown perspective on the university to contrast Kurtz’s outsider view. But the two came to similar conclusions.

As a Georgian, Miller said, he knows the university means a boost to state economic development and the development of state leaders.

“And it provides an education that is on par with any in this country and at an affordable level,” he said.

Looking into the future, Miller also said the university should remain vigilant in its effort to serve students.

Miller applauded efforts to make experiential learning a bigger part of the student experience. He encouraged faculty and staff to mentor students as a way to open lines of communication.

He also warned about the rising costs of education, including tuition and fee increases.

“With an improving economy and in turn, hopefully, improving state support, this university must be mindful to balance tuition and fees with maintaining that value for students,” he said.

GLOBAL GEORGIA INITIATIVE

PUBLIC SERVICE AND OUTREACH

Speaker discusses homelessness Musician, NPR on university campuses in US critic to discuss

By Sydney Devine srdevine@uga.edu

In 2013, there were around 36,000 documented homeless students in grades K-12 in Georgia, and those numbers continue to increase, according to Cyekeia Lee, director of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth.

Lee visited UGA Jan. 22 to talk about the association and issues around homeless college students.

The lecture was sponsored by the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, a public service and outreach unit at UGA. While working in the higher education system in Michigan, Lee was approached by a number of students who were not only in need of financial assistance to complete their degrees, but who also didn’t have a place to live.

According to Lee, the students she met were facing homelessness for a number of reasons.

“Day in and day out, I got to see students who were struggling to balance life and achieve academic goals,” she said.

In 2012, Lee joined NAEHCY’s higher education committee to help solve the homelessness issues that a large number of college students face.

She wants to make sure that colleges and universities throughout the nation have support systems in place for homeless students on their campuses.

In addition to working face-to-face with students in need, Lee also helps staff the NAEHCY helpline, which is a resource for students in all states.

Students are able to call the helpline for assistance in finding places to stay in their local areas.

In its first year, the helpline received the most calls from Georgia, Lee said.

During her lecture, Lee talked about a University System of Georgia initiative, EMBARK, which is designed to help address the specific needs of students who have experienced foster care or homelessness. Like NAEHCY, EMBARK is working to provide special services, including connections to resources for homeless students on each of the state’s 31 public college and university campuses.

Among other things, NAEHCY provides suggestions for the best practices on campuses to help students in need. These practices include making certain there’s a food and clothing bank available on campus as well as establishing coordination between financial aid offices, student support services and campus housing.

“At some point, I’d like to see all 50 states have a plan in place,” Lee said.

‘Our Back Pages’

By Dave Marr

davemarr@uga.edu

Ann Powers of NPR and musician Patterson Hood will have the public conversation “Our Back Pages: The Music, Books and Movies That Fed Two Creative Lives” Feb. 12 at 4 p.m. in the Chapel. Open free to the public, the event is part of the Global Georgia Initiative, the signature speaker series of the Jane and Harry Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.

Hood is a co-founder and principal singer-songwriter of the Athens band Drive-By Truckers, which has released more than a dozen albums to popular and critical acclaim. Hood also has released three albums of his own and frequently performs as a solo artist in addition to maintaining a heavy touring schedule with Drive-By Truckers.

Powers is a critic and correspondent at NPR Music, where she writes for the music news blog, The Record, and frequently appears on NPR’s radio programs.

The conversation with Hood and Powers will take place on the day of the first of the Drive-By Truckers’ three consecutive shows at the 40 Watt Club in downtown Athens.

There is no reserved seating in the Chapel; doors will open at 3:15 p.m.

RESEARCH NEWS

columns.uga.edu Feb. 9, 2015

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Digest UGA’s House the Herd Student Design Challenge to announce winners Feb. 13

Peter Frey

Paul Efland

UGA College of Veterinary Medicine faculty members Biao He, a professor of infectious diseases, left, and Zhen Fu, a professor of pathology, have been successful in testing a new treatment on mice that cures rabies even after the virus has spread to the brain.

Beating the clock College of Veterinary Medicine researchers develop new treatment for rabies

By James E. Hataway jhataway@uga.edu

Successfully treating rabies can be a race against the clock. Those who suffer a bite from a rabid animal have a brief window of time to seek medical help before the virus takes root in the central nervous system, at which point the disease is almost invariably fatal.

Now, researchers at UGA have been successful in testing a new treatment on mice that cures the disease even after the virus has spread to the brain. They published their findings recently in the Journal of Virology.

“Basically, the best way to deal with rabies right now is simple: Don’t get rabies,” said study co-author Biao He, a professor of infectious diseases in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine.

“We have vaccines that can prevent the disease, and we use the same vaccine as a kind of treatment after a bite, but it only works if the virus hasn’t progressed too far. Our team has developed a new vaccine that rescues mice much longer after infection than what was traditionally thought possible.”

In their mouse experiments, the

animals were exposed to a strain of the rabies virus that generally reaches the brain of infected mice within three days.

By day six, mice begin to exhibit the telltale physical symptoms that indicate the infection has become fatal.

However, 50 percent of mice treated with the new vaccine were saved, even after the onset of physical symptoms on day six.

“This is the most effective treatment we have seen reported in the scientific literature,” He said.“If we can improve these results and translate them to humans, we may have found one of the first useful treatments for advanced rabies infection.”

He and his colleagues developed their vaccine by inserting a protein from the rabies virus into another virus known as parainfluenza virus 5, or PIV5, which is thought to contribute to upper respiratory infections in dogs but is completely harmless to humans.

PIV5 acts as a delivery vehicle that carries the rabies protein to the immune system so it may create the antibodies necessary to fight off the virus.

“This is only the beginning of our work,” He said.“While these preliminary results are very exciting, we are confident

that we can combine this new vaccine with other therapies to boost survival rates even higher and rescue animals even when symptoms are severe.”

The researchers emphasized that their vaccine, apart from being very effective in saving the infected mice, is much safer when compared to the best current treatment in mice, which uses a weakened version of the rabies virus.

“It doesn’t matter how we weaken the current vaccine, the virus inside it is still rabies,” said study co-author Zhen Fu, a professor of pathology in the college.

“That is not a concern with our PIV5 vaccine.”

The researchers will continue to perfect their vaccine’s design and hope to move into more advanced animal trials soon.

“There is an urgent need in many parts of the world for a better rabies treatment, and we think this technology may serve as an excellent platform,” He said. “Ultimately, we just want to try to save more lives.”

Other study co-authors are Ying Huang, Zhenhai Chen and Junhua Huang from the College of Veterinary Medicine.

FRANKLIN COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES Study: Stress increases motivation, amount spent for alcohol

By Molly Berg

mberg14@uga.edu

The effects of stress can change the way heavy drinkers seek alcohol—and how much they’re willing to spend to get it, a new UGA study has found.

Co-authored by James MacKillop, a former UGA associate professor in the psychology department, and Max Owens, a second-year graduate student in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ clinical psychology program, the study analyzes the way in which drinkers are motivated to purchase and use alcohol based on their recent life events.

“In brief, we are interested in using behavioral economics, which combines aspects of psychology and economics, to improve the measurement of an individual’s motivation for alcohol and other drugs,” said MacKillop, who holds the Peter Boris Chair in Addictions Research at McMaster University.

“The findings reveal that in addition to increasing desire for alcohol, acute

stress increases the value for alcohol in several ways,” he also said.

Mentored by MacKillop, Owens looked at data of nontreatment-seeking heavy drinkers, ones who had scores of eight or higher out of 40 on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. These AUDIT scores, often used in addiction research, indicate risky and harmful alcohol use.

“We found that, in the case of heavy drinkers, recalling stressful life events increased their estimated consumption of alcohol,” Owens said. “People from a variety of income levels were willing to spend more on alcohol after exposure to stress. The participants also were less affected by the price of alcohol after exposure to stressful life events.”

Individuals of a certain genotype of a gene called CRH-BP also were found to be more susceptible to the effects of stress. Participants with this genotype reported a greater sensitivity to the stress induction in the lab sessions. Therefore, heavy drinkers with this genotype of the

CRH-BP gene may be more inclined to consume alcohol after stressful life events.

After being selected for the study, the heavy drinkers participated in two in-person lab sessions. During the first session, participants were asked to describe both recent stressful and neutral life events. A detailed script then was written and recorded about the events described.

When the participants returned for the second session, they were exposed to two recordings of their recent visits.

One was about the neutral events, while the other was about the stressful events mentioned in the previous visit.

Each neutral and stressful event exposure was followed by alcohol cues. In the cues, participants were asked to assess their urge for alcohol and the steps they would take to purchase it. Participants took alcohol assessments to indicate if the negative events changed their motivations and cravings.

Owens hopes the findings can be used to better understand, and subsequently develop, treatment for alcohol addiction.

The winners of the House the Herd Student Design Challenge will be announced Feb. 13 at 5:30 p.m. in the Jackson Street Building, 285 S. Jackson St. The event, which will be catered, is open free to the public.

Over the past three months, 52 UGA students on a total of 13 teams were tasked with designing a temporary shelter to house at least 12 Chew Crew goats at Driftmier Woods, a patch of forest on the Athens campus that is overrun by invasive shrubs and vines.

Their designs will be judged on practicality, environmental impact and innovation. The winning team will be awarded $1,000. The second- and third-place teams will receive $500 and $250, respectively. Designs created by Barrow Elementary School students also will be on display.

Project implementation will begin in late February.

Performing Arts Center to present UGA Theatre in Saturday Morning Club

The UGA Performing Arts Center will present the UGA Theatre in the next installment of the Saturday Morning Club Feb. 14 at 10 a.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall. The fun and educational family event will feature student performers from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ theatre and film studies department.

The Saturday Morning Club is designed for children ages 4 through 12, their parents and grandparents. Upcoming performances include UGA Dance on March 28 and the UGA Symphony Orchestra on April 18.

Tickets for each performance are $6 for children and $10 for adults. They can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center box office, online at pac.uga.edu or by calling 706-542-4400.

Former CDC executive to discuss communication and public health

UGA’s Voices from the Vanguard series continues Feb. 17 with Glen Nowak, director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication.

Nowak’s presentation, “Communication as a Public Health Tool: Difficulties, Realities, Possibilities,” takes place at 5:30 p.m. in the Chapel. Open free to the public, the lecture will be followed by a reception at Demosthenian Hall.

Nowak will draw on his experience on the frontlines of public health, where he confronted the capabilities—and the limitations—of communication as a public health tool. He spent 14 years with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he served as the first director of communications for the National Immunization Program and then director of media relations.

Georgia Museum of Art to hold annual Black History Month dinner Feb. 17

The Georgia Museum of Art at UGA will host its annual Black History Month Dinner, organized by the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. This year’s theme is “Unmasked: Black Women in Art.” The event will begin with a tour of the exhibition Not Ready to Make Nice: Guerrilla Girls in the Artworld and Beyond by museum director William U. Eiland, curator of American art Sarah Kate Gillespie and Lynn Boland, the Pierre Daura Curator of European Art. Guests also will be able to see select works by artist Amalia Amaki.

The annual awards ceremony will follow dinner. This year’s honorees are Amaki and Natasha Trethewey. The event will close with a musical performance.

Tickets are $55, $45 for members of the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art, $20 for students and $15 for student members.

PERIODICALS POSTAGE STATEMENT Columns (USPS 020-024) is published weekly during the academic year and biweekly during the summer for the faculty and staff of the University of Georgia by the UGA News Service. Periodicals postage is paid in Athens, Georgia. Postmaster: Send off-campus address changes to Columns, UGA News Service, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Athens, GA 30602-1999.

For a complete listing of events 7 8 5 at the University of Georgia, check the Master Calendar on the Web (calendar.uga.edu/­).

I

The following events are open to the public, unless otherwise specified.

Dates, times and locations may change without advance notice.

UGAGUIDE The Knights to perform, serve as chamber orchestra in residence for Athens

NOT READY TO MAKE NICE

By Bobby Tyler btyler@uga.edu

The UGA Performing Arts Center will present The Knights chamber orchestra Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. in Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. The critically acclaimed ensemble also will become chamber orchestra in residence for the city of Athens with a series of educational programs for schools as well as a club date at Hendershot’s Coffee and a free noontime concert at the UGA Chapel.

Tickets for the concert are $25-$52 and are discounted for UGA students. Tickets can be purchased at the Performing Arts

Center box office, online at pac.uga.edu or by calling 706-542-4400.

The Performing Arts Center will offer a pre-concert lecture 45 minutes prior to The Knights performance. The lecture is open free to the public.

Based in New York City, The Knights are an orchestral collective, flexible in size and repertory, dedicated to transforming the concert experience.

In addition to the Feb. 12 concert, The Knights will engage in educational outreach activities, working with UGA music students and visiting students in Athens-Clarke County public schools.

The Knights also will perform a Young People’s Concert in Hodgson Hall for local schoolchildren.

The Knights will perform Feb. 10 at the Chapel for the Noontime Concert Series, a new series created by the Performing Arts Center for UGA faculty, staff and students..

Members of The Knights will play at Hendershot’s on Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. The Hendershot’s set will feature string quartet, bass, percussion and two singer-songwriters, Christina Courtin and Aoife O’Donovan.

The Athens residency of The Knights is presented in cooperation with The Classic Center Foundation.

columns.uga.edu Feb. 9, 2015

4&5

Piano virtuoso to perform in 2nd Thursday Concert Feb. 19

By Joshua Cutchin jcutchin@uga.edu

Hugh Hodgson School of Music faculty member Evgeny Rivkin will present an evening of piano music Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. Tickets for the performance, which continues the 2014-2015 Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s 2nd Thursday Scholarship Concert Series, are $18, $5 for students. Tickets can be purchased at the UGA Performing Arts Center box office, by calling 706-542-4400 or online at pac.uga.edu.

The program will feature a broad selection of romantic compositions for piano: Brahms’ Sonata No. 3 in F minor; Six moments musicaux (Moderato) and Impromptus (Andante-Allegro) by Schubert; Rachmaninoff’s Études-Tableaux (Lento lugubre); and Two Poems (Andante cantabile–Allegro con eleganza) and Five Preludes Op. 74 by Scriabin.

Rivkin joined UGA in 1995. Before his arrival, he served as professor of piano at the Latvian Academy of Music in Riga, Latvia. Rivkin has taken top prizes in the Bavarian Radio Musik Competition, the International Tchaikovsky Competition, the USSR National Piano Competition of St. Petersburg and the Russian National Piano Competition. In 1998, he won the first prize in the International McMahon Piano Competition in Oklahoma.

Georgia Museum of Art organizes Piero Lerda’s first U.S. exhibition

UGA Opera Theatre to present ‘L’amico Fritz’ in Fine Arts Theatre

mattiec@uga.edu

jcutchin@uga.edu

By Mattie Cannon

By Joshua Cutchin

The Georgia Museum of Art will host the exhibition Chaos & Metamorphosis: The Art of Piero Lerda Feb. 14 through May 10. Lerda’s art draws on his personal experiences growing up in Italy during World War II and his interest in the eternal battle between chaos and order.

Throughout Lerda’s career, he experimented with various types of materials, particularly collage. In the 1950s and 1960s, he used India ink and wax and focused on human violence as a theme. By the mid1960s, he began incorporating kites and children’s toys in his art. His “merry-go-round cities” depict a world reconstructed by children after being destroyed by adults. His final series of works, which he created from the 1990s until his death in 2007, examines themes of chaos, creation and metamorphosis.

Lerda’s wife, Valeria Gennaro Lerda, attended UGA on a Fulbright Scholarship in 1974-75 (and again in 1978-79) and played a major role in her husband’s work making its way into the collection of the museum.

Gennaro Lerda and Laura Valeri, associate curator of European art at the museum and curator of this exhibition, will deliver a gallery talk Feb. 26 at 5:30 p.m.

The UGA Opera Theatre will present L’Amico Fritz, Pietro Mascagni’s whimsical tale of 19th-century romance, at the university’s Fine Arts Theatre Feb. 20-21 at 8 p.m., with a special matinée performance Feb. 22 at 3 p.m.

Tickets are $18, $5 for UGA students with a UGACard. They are available from the Performing Arts Center box office, via phone at 706-542-4400, and online at www.pac.uga.edu.

The opera tells the tale of a wealthy landowner who bets that he will never marry, wagering his entire vineyard to his best friend.

When Suzel, the daughter of Fritz’s tenant, arrives on scene, things become much more complicated for the bachelor. The “Cherry Duet,” sung between Fritz and Suzel in act 2, has become a staple of operatic duet repertoire.

UGA’s production will feature Brett Pardue as the career bachelor Fritz, Isaiah Feken as his friend Rabbi David and Elisabeth Slaten as the young Suzel. The cast also includes students Marisan Corsino (Beppe), Dinesh Gurpur (Federico), Henry Adams (Hanezò), Alexis Minogue (Caterina) and the UGA Opera Ensemble Chorus.

EXHIBITIONS Witness: The Photographs of Billy Howard. Through Feb. 12. Circle Gallery, Jackson Street Building.

Not Ready to Make Nice: Guerrilla Girls in the Artworld and Beyond. Through March 1. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

Creatures in the Garden. Through March 8. State Botanical Garden.

The Life and Work of Alice Fischer, Cultural Pioneer.

Through March 8. Boone and George-Ann Knox Gallery II, Georgia Museum of Art. A Year on the Hill: Work by Jim Fiscus and Chris Bilheimer. Through March 8. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-9078, mlachow@uga.edu.

“OC” Carlisle Solo Art. Through May 11. Candler Hall.

Food, Power and Politics: The Story of School Lunch.

Through May 15. Russell Library Gallery, special collections libraries.

Terra Verte. Through May 31. Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden, Georgia Museum of Art.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9 HEALTH SCREENINGS UGA students can get a free cholesterol screening and blood pressure check Feb. 9-12 and Feb. 16-19 from 8 a.m. to noon and 1-3 p.m. There is a $10 fee for non-fees paid students, UGA faculty or staff members, spouses and domestic partners. Participants must be fasting, having had no food or drink other than water after midnight the night before.

Check-in is at registration. University Health Center.

706-542-8690, bbingeman@uhs.uga.edu.

LECTURE Julie Heffernan’s work explores mind’s eye imagery to create complex environments that address climate change, environmental degradation and human folly. Part of the 2014-2015 Visiting Artist/Scholar Series. 5:30 p.m. S151 Lamar Dodd School of Art. 706-542-0116, michelleegas@uga.edu.

FILM Battle for the Elephants. Part of the Animal Voices Film Festival. Battle for the Elephants explores the slaughter of African elephants for their tusks, a practice that is fueled largely by China’s demand for ivory. 7:30 p.m. 148 Miller Learning Center.

706-224-3796, sos@uga.edu.

CONCERT Hodgson School professor Amy Pollard performs

The Knights chamber orchestra will become chamber orchestra in residence for the city of Athens.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12

on the bassoon. $10; $5 with a UGACard. 8 p.m.

Ramsey Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center.

706-542-4752, musicpr@uga.edu.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10 NOONTIME CONCERT Free lunchtime concert by The Knights chamber orchestra from New York. Noon. Chapel.

706-542-4400, ugaarts@uga.edu. (See story, above).

GUEST LECTURE Victor Pickard of the University of Pennsylvania will give a presentation on the historical and normative foundations of the U.S. media system, the relevance of these foundations for regulatory and policy debates today regarding digital systems.

12:30 p.m. 309 Sanford Hall. 706-542-3556, ­hamilton@uga.edu.

WORKSHOP “Engaging Students in Small Classes.” This interactive session will evaluate some of the recent literature on learner-centered approaches to instruction as well as practical tips on how to achieve student engagement in the small class setting. 1 p.m.

North Instructional Plaza Mall. 706-583-0067, tchagood@uga.edu.

COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT* This is one of the three community service opportunities being offered by Multicultural Services and Programs and the Center for Leadership and Service’s Service Ambassadors during Black History Month. The service projects will take place at Brooklyn Cemetery, one of the first African-American cemeteries in Athens. Participants can depart from the Center for Leadership and Service​at 2:30 p.m., and return by 5 p.m. Those interested should sign up through UGAin, UGA’s Involvement Network. Brooklyn Cemetery, West Lake Drive. dannyb@uga.edu.

GUEST LECTURE Ann Powers with guest Patterson Hood will give a talk titled “Our Back Pages: The Music, Books and Movies That Fed Two Creative Lives.” This event is part of the Willson Center’s Global Georgia Initiative.

4 p.m. Chapel. davemarr@uga.edu. (See story, page 2).

GALLERY TALK Asen Kirin, an associate professor of art history and associate director of the Lamar Dodd School of Art, will speak on A Year on the Hill, a series of photographs created by Jim Fiscus with Chris Bilheimer.

5:30 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-9078, mlachow@uga.edu.

SPRING TUESDAY TOUR 2 p.m. Special collections libraries galleries.

706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Florida. $5; $3 for youth. 7 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

ECOLOGY SEMINAR “Evolution of Pathogen Plasticity,” Sylvain Gandon, director of the Evolutionary Ecology and Epidemiology Group at the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology in Montpellier, France. Reception precedes seminar in lobby. 4 p.m. Ecology building auditorium. 706-542-7247, bethgav@uga.edu.

CLASSIC CITY SWING BAND DANCE Participants can listen to the Classic City Swing Band or spend the evening on the dance floor alone or with a partner. $15. 7 p.m. State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156, ckeber@uga.edu.

CONCERT The Knights chamber orchestra is dedicated to creating original, engaging musical experiences that honor the classical tradition and explore new avenues for musical discovery. $25-$52. 8 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center.

706-542-4400, ugaarts@uga.edu. (See story, above).

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11 TOUR AT TWO Led by docents. 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-9078, mlachow@uga.edu.

UGA HOCKEY vs. Life University. $7-$25. 7 p.m. The Classic Center, 300 N. Thomas St. CONCERT The UGA Wind Symphony will present its first concert of the new year. The group, led by conductor Jaclyn Hartenberger, is comprised of music students and gifted non-majors. 8 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. 706-542-4752, musicpr@uga.edu.

Calendar items are taken from Columns files and from the university’s Master Calendar, maintained by Public Affairs.

Notices are published here as space permits, with priority given to items of multidisciplinary interest. The Master Calendar is available on the Web at calendar.uga.edu/.

FILM Good Will Hunting (1997). $2; $1 for UGA students who pay activity fees. 8 p.m. Tate Student Center Theatre. 706-542-6396.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13 WOMEN’S STUDIES FRIDAY SPEAKER LECTURE “Not Ready to Make Nice: Guerrilla Girls in the Artworld & Beyond—Feminism and Fake Fur at the

GMOA,” Sarah Kate Gillespie, curator of American art at the Georgia Museum of Art. 12:20 p.m. 148 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-2846, tlhat@uga.edu.

DEDICATION CEREMONY The Veterinary Medical Center will be dedicated.

2 p.m. (See story, page 1).

FILM The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I (2014) will be shown Feb. 13-15 at 3, 6 and 9 p.m. $2; $1 for UGA students who pay activity fees. Tate Student Center Theatre. 706-542-6396.

FOLEY FIELD CEREMONY A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Foley Field renovations. This event will be part of pre-game ceremonies for the season-opening game. 4:30 p.m.

Foley Field.

BASEBALL vs. Eastern Illinois. First of three-game series. $5-$8.

5 p.m. Foley Field. 706-542-1231.

CHAMBER MUSIC RECITAL Hugh Hodgson School of Music faculty members Connie Frigo and Joshua Bynum will present the Mod(ular) Ensemble, a new chamber music experience. The group, which is comprised of faculty and guests, mixes and matches combinations of saxophone, trombone, clarinet, bass, piano and percussion for a varied musical experience. This will be the ensemble’s inaugural performance. 6 p.m. Ramsey Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-4752, musicpr@uga.edu.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14 SATURDAY MORNING CLUB CONCERT For children ages 4 to 12 to learn about music and theater. $10; $6 for children. 10 a.m. Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-3301, btyler@uga.edu. (See Digest, page 3).

FAMILY DAY: LOVE AND LERDA Participants will explore the playful multimedia works of Italian artist Piero Lerda for inspiration, then make their own collaged valentine.

10 a.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-9078, mlachow@uga.edu.

EXHIBITION OPENING Chaos and Metamorphosis: The Art of Piero Lerda.

Though May 10. This exhibition presents a crosssection of the work of Italian artist Piero Lerda (1927-2007). Lerda concerned himself with juxtapositions, seeking to find a balance between order and chaos, good and evil, pessimism and witty irony.

Working meticulously in a variety of media such as India ink and wax, acrylic paint and innumerable

collage materials from candy wrappers to corrugated cardboard, Lerda created abstract works that are at once playful and cerebral. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu. (See story, above left).

MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Auburn. To be televised on FSN. $15. 2 p.m.

Stegeman Coliseum. 706-542-1231.

BASEBALL vs. Eastern Illinois. Second of three-game series. $5-$8. 4 p.m. Foley Field. 706-542-1231.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15 BASEBALL vs. Eastern Illinois. Third of three-game series. $5-$8.1 p.m. Foley Field. 706-542-1231.

LUNAR NEW YEAR FESTIVAL Hosted by the Asian American Student Association. In collaboration with many other organizations across campus, the group will showcase different cultures with live performances and authentic food to ring in the year of the goat. $8; $5 for students.

6 p.m. Grand Hall, Tate Student Center.

404-324-2173, apel409@uga.edu.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16 HEALTH SCREENINGS UGA students can get a free cholesterol screening and blood pressure check Feb. 16-19 from 8 a.m. to noon and 1-3 p.m. There is a $10 fee for nonfees paid students, UGA faculty or staff members, spouses and domestic partners. Participants must be fasting, having had no food or drink other than water after midnight the night before. Check-in is at registration. University Health Center. 706-542-8690, bbingeman@uhs.uga.edu.

‘THE POWER OF THE “N” WORD’* A panel of professionals on interpersonal communication, African-American studies and student life will facilitate an open discussion on the “N” word—its usage, and its past, present and future relevance.

The event is sponsored by University Housing, Myers Community. 8 p.m. Programming Room, Myers Hall.

PRESIDENTS DAY Classes in session; offices open.

FILM The Paw Project. Part of the Animal Voices Film Festival. The Paw Project documentary is an against-allodds story of a grassroots movement to protect cats, both large and small, from the effects of declawing and how the movement has prevailed, despite the

TO SUBMIT A LISTING FOR THE MASTER CALENDAR AND COLUMNS Post event information first to the Master Calendar website (calendar.uga.edu/). Listings for Columns are taken from the Master Calendar 12 days before the publication date.

Events not posted by then may not be printed in Columns.

Any additional information about the event may be sent directly to Columns. Email is preferred (columns@uga.edu), but materials can be mailed to Columns, News Service, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.

efforts of well-funded professional veterinary associations. Sponsored by Speak Out for Species.

7:30 p.m. 101 Miller Learning Center.

706-224-3796, sos@uga.edu.

COMING UP VOICES FROM THE VANGUARD LECTURE “Communication as a Public Health Tool: Difficulties, Realities, Possibilities,” Glen Nowak, director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication. Nowak will give his perspective on communication as a public health tool. 5:30 p.m. Chapel. 706-542-1210, pthomas@uga.edu. (See Digest, page 3).

BLACK HISTORY MONTH DINNER* Feb. 17. An evening with dinner and an awards ceremony featuring the recipients of the Lillian C. Lynch Citation and the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Award. $15-$55. 6 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-0830. (See Digest, page 3).

BLACK IN AMERICA TOUR* Feb. 17. Journalist Soledad O'Brien will give a presentation in which she will highlight and discuss recent race-related events and show clips from some of her documentaries and pertinent news stories. To be followed by a panel discussion on race and law enforcement. The panel discussion will include W. Kamau Bell, Julianne Malveaux and a member from the UGA/Athens community. $5, free for students with valid UGACards who pay activity fees on the Athens campus. 7 p.m. Grand Hall, Tate Student Center. 706-542-5773, meganrp@uga.edu.

(See story, page 1).

UNIVERSITY COUNCIL MEETING Feb. 18. 3:30 p.m. Tate Student Center Theatre.

706-542-6020, hathcote@uga.edu.

2ND THURSDAY CONCERT Feb. 19. Faculty member and International Tchaikovsky Competition winner Evgeny Rivkin will bring his sensitive touch to the brand new Steinway piano for this performance. $18; $5 for UGA students.

7:30 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. 706-542-4752, musicpr@uga.edu. (See story, above).

PERFORMANCE Feb. 20. Also to be performed Feb. 21 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. The UGA Opera Theatre, under the direction of professor Frederick Burchinal, stars in a staged portrayal of one of opera’s beloved masterpieces, L’Amico Fritz. $18; $5 with a UGACard.

8 p.m. Fine Arts Theatre, Fine Arts Building.

706-542-4752, musicpr@uga.edu. (See story, above). *PART OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH AT UGA (SEE STORY, PAGE 1).

NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES Feb. 11 (for Feb. 23 issue) Feb. 18 (for March 2 issue) Feb. 25 (for March 9 issue)

6 Feb. 9, 2015 columns.uga.edu

A 2013 paper has landed a UGA College of Education researcher on the Council for Learning Disabilities’ list of “most influential” articles.

Scott Ardoin’s paper, published in the Journal of School Psychology, examines the recommendations and research surrounding curriculum-based Scott Ardoin measurement of oral reading. The educational psychology department researcher and his team evaluated more than 100 studies examining the appropriateness of a widely used measure for monitoring the academic gains made by students provided with reading interventions.

The primary reason for conducting this research, Ardoin said, was his concern that curriculum decisions for students were made based on unreliable data.

Dr. K. Paige Carmichael, a professor of veterinary pathology and the former associate dean for academic affairs at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, is the recipient of the 2015 Iverson Bell Award, given by the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges.

During her eight years as Paige Carmichael the college’s associate dean for academic affairs, Carmichael authored or co-authored multiple successful grants to address the recruitment of underrepresented groups to veterinary medicine and to support their careers. She also created the veterinary medicine college’s popular VetCAMP— Veterinary Career Aptitude and Mentoring Program—which aims to recruit young underrepresented minority students with an aptitude for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The award will be presented to Carmichael at the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges’ 2015 annual conference March 13-15 in Washington, D.C. The Iverson Bell Award is presented every other year to a member of the association’s academic veterinary community in recognition of outstanding leadership and the promotion of diversity in veterinary education. Carmichael will be the 14th veterinary educator to receive the award.

David P. Landau, Distinguished Research Professor of Physics and founding director of the Center for Simulational Physics, was elected a corresponding (foreign) member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in December 2014.

Landau has been actively involved with the Brazilian physics community since 1989 when he co-organized the first Brazilian satellite meeting on computational physics in Ouro Preto, Brazil. He also helped create the series of biennial Brazilian Meetings on Simulational Physics modeled somewhat after the annual workshop series organized by UGA’s Center for Simulational Physics.

John Snider, a faculty member in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, was named the Outstanding Young Cotton Physiologist at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences held last month in San Antonio, Texas.

The national honor was given to Snider, an assistant professor of crop and soil sciences on the college’s Tifton campus, primarily for his work on alternate irrigation methods. He received a plaque and a $1,000 cash award from Dow AgroSciences, which sponsors the program. The award was started to recognize cotton physiology researchers in the early part of their careers. It is modeled after the Outstanding Cotton Physiologist Award given at the same conference for career-long accomplishments.

Kudos recognizes special contributions of staff, faculty and administrators in teaching, research and service. News items are limited to election into office of state, regional, national and international societies; major awards and prizes; and similarly notable accomplishments.

FACULTY PROFILE

Peter Frey

Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, an associate professor in the School of Law, first had an interest in the legal field after she spent a year overseas working with the Mediation Network for Northern Ireland.

Talking the talk: Associate professor helps students learn language of law

By Lona Panter lonap@uga.edu

Learning a second language can be a daunting task, but for Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, an associate professor in the School of Law, sharing the language of law with her students is exciting.

“One of the things I tell my firstyear civil procedure students on the first day of class is, ‘You intuitively know something about a lot of the areas of the law. If you have a brother or sister, you know about torts and battery. And you know about property and contracts if you’ve ever signed a lease for an apartment,’ ” she said. “But civil procedure is an insider’s law; it’s almost like learning a new language. That’s what makes it exciting, but that’s also what makes it really difficult.”

Burch, who teaches complex litigation, mass torts and a two-semester civil procedure class in the law school, educates her students on some of the more intricate topics in the legal world.

“I hope to show them that the rules of procedure can be used strategically, to teach them how to deploy the rules in a way that helps their clients and to understand the rules’ impact on substantive policies and clients’ rights and remedies,” she said.

Teaching means that Burch has the opportunity to share her expertise and knowledge with her students, while also

furthering her own research, which centers on complex litigation.

“There’s a strong nexus for me because I teach in the area in which I write,” she said. “My complex litigation class, for example, uses a casebook I co-authored. Just preparing for class using current events such as the GM ignition switch litigation or the Toyota acceleration recalls and having the opportunity to talk through the judicial system’s handling of those problems with my students gives me new ideas for scholarship.”

Burch first had an interest in the legal field after she spent a year overseas working with the Mediation Network for Northern Ireland.

The group “mediates some of the disputes between Protestants and Catholics, and it gave me a chance to see how law can actually influence behavior and influence daily life,” she said. “I decided to go to law school from there.”

While in law school, Burch became interested in complex litigation and civil procedure.

“When I started writing about those topics in law school, I found them fascinating—and continue to do so,” she said.

After graduating from law school, Burch moved into practice and then decided to test the waters of academia, first taking a position at the Cumberland

FACTS Elizabeth Chamblee Burch

Associate Professor of Law School of Law J.D., Florida State University, 2004 B.A., English, Vanderbilt University, 2000 At UGA: Four years

School of Law at Samford University, then as an assistant professor at the Florida State University College of Law. Burch received her first offer to teach shortly after dipping her toe in the academic pool, and it was an offer she didn’t expect to come so quickly.

“Being a professor was not something I thought would be an option for me, but I was lucky enough to get a job teaching (at Cumberland),” she said. “They were very receptive, and I was very fortunate.”

At UGA since 2011, Burch praised the “great faculty” she works with in the law school. She also has found teaching to be an enjoyable and fulfilling experience.

“What’s not to enjoy about it?” she said. “My job now lets me do all the things I loved about practice all of the time. Plus it allows me to teach and (share) the excitement of all the first-year law students.”

SCHOOL OF LAW

IT help desk manager named law school employee of year

By Courtney Brown lawprstu@uga.edu

Brad Grove, an information technology help desk manager, received the 2014 Emma P. Terrell Distinguished Employee Award from the School of Law’s Staff Representative Group.

The award is given each year to an employee who demonstrates dedication and service to the law school.

Grove joined Georgia Law in 2008, and he oversees a variety of technological resources and provides guidance to faculty, staff and students throughout the law school.

He was recognized for his “helpful, reliable, professional, friendly and knowledgeable” demeanor. According to written nominations, Grove’s work ethic and commitment to the law school

community are “unparalleled.” One person wrote: “(He) is constantly on the move throughout the three buildings yet he always seems to be where he is most needed.”

A native of St. Simons Island, Grove earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1995 and a bachelor’s degree in management information systems in 2007, both from UGA. Presented annually, the Terrell Award recognizes staff members who demonstrate an outstanding work ethic, a commitment to service and exceptional job performance in addition to the cooperation necessary to increase the quality of education and service provided by the law school. Formerly known as the Employee Distinguished Service Award, this honor was renamed in 2005 for the late law school employee.

Brad Grove, left, received the 2014 Emma P. Terrell Distinguished Employee Award from the UGA School of Law’s Staff Representative Group. He is pictured with Marie Mize, the chair of the law school’s Staff Representative Group.

ODUM SCHOOL OF ECOLOGY

columns.uga.edu Feb. 9, 2015

Canceled flights

7

UGA study: For monarch butterflies, loss of migration means more disease

By Beth Gavrilles bethgav@uga.edu

Human activities are disrupting the migration patterns of many species, including monarch butterflies. Some monarchs have stopped migrating to their traditional overwintering sites in Mexico, staying in the southern U.S. to breed during the winter.

A new study by UGA ecologists, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, has found that these sedentary winter-breeding butterflies are at increased risk of disease, a finding that could apply to other migratory species as well. But, for the monarchs at least, there may be a relatively simple solution.

Every year, millions of monarch butterflies travel from breeding grounds in the eastern U.S. and Canada to spend the winter in central Mexico. In recent years, however, their numbers have declined sharply as changing agricultural practices and land-use patterns have reduced the availability of milkweed, the plant on which monarchs lay their eggs.

In response, concerned gardeners have started planting milkweed to help replace some of the butterflies’ lost breeding habitat.

The most readily available commercially grown milkweed sold by garden centers is the exotic species Asclepias curassavica or tropical milkweed. Monarchs love it, but, according to the study’s lead author Dara Satterfield, a doctoral student in the UGA Odum School of Ecology, tropical milkweed does not naturally die in fall like perennial milkweeds native to North America. In fact, in parts of the southern U.S. from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Ocean, tropical milkweed can produce foliage and flowers year-round. This allows monarchs in those areas to stay put and keep breeding all winter.

And that’s how problems with disease arise.

Satterfield and her colleagues processed more than 5,000 samples taken from monarchs at over 100 sites across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, testing them for infection by a debilitating protozoan parasite. The nondestructive samples, about half of which were collected by citizen scientists through Project Monarch Health, were taken by gently pressing clear tape against the butterfly’s abdomen; the samples were then viewed under a microscope.

The researchers found that the nonmigratory, winter-breeding monarchs in the southern U.S. were five times more likely

to be infected with parasites than migratory monarchs sampled in their summer breeding range or at overwintering sites in Mexico.

Satterfield said that previous studies by co-author Sonia Altizer, Odum School associate dean and UGA Athletic Association Professor in Ecology, showed that for some wildlife species, including monarchs, longdistance migration helps to reduce infectious disease transmission.

“Long-distance migration can reduce disease in animal populations when it weeds out infected individuals during the strenuous journey or when the migrating animals get to take a break and move away from contaminated habitats where parasites accumulate,” she said.

This pattern is part of a larger problem.

“Many animal migrations are changing in response to human activities, whether climate change, habitat destruction or barriers to migration,” Satterfield said. “Some migrations are changing in terms of timing or distance traveled. Some animals have stopped migrating altogether. So in these animals, some pathogens that historically have been kept in check by migration might now become a problem.”

Fortunately for the monarchs, there is a large and dedicated core of gardeners and citizen scientists eager to help.

“It was members of the public and citizen scientists who alerted us to the winter breeding behaviors of monarchs in their gardens to begin with,” Satterfield said. “So the public has helped us recognize the shift in monarch ecology and document the disease outcomes in a scientific way. And I think they can now help us manage monarch habitats in ways that might reduce disease problems.”

Because the monarchs’ winter-breeding behavior is made possible by the presence of tropical milkweed, Satterfield recommended that gardeners gradually replace it with native milkweeds as they become available.

“We encourage the planting of native milkweeds whenever possible,” she said.

“But if you do have tropical milkweed, we recommend cutting it back every few weeks to within 6 inches of the ground in fall and winter. That’s especially important in coastal areas of the southern U.S. where we now know disease is a problem.”

Some locations such as the extreme southern portions of Texas and Florida have supported tropical milkweed for many decades or longer, and Satterfield said that tropical

WEEKLY READER

Book examines politics, foreign policy On the Boundaries focuses on the connections between international relations, comparative politics and foreign policy.

To many observers, international relations and comparative politics recently have lost focus. Both fields continually move away from foreign policy concerns.

In this provocative volume, Howard J. Wiarda, the Dean Rusk Professor of International Relations in UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs and senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., details where these fields have On the Boundaries: When gone astray, indicates what must be International Relations, Comparative done to correct their downward traPolitics, and Foreign Policy Meet jectories and offers probing analyses

By Howard J. Wiarda with the of recent hot political topics that assistance of Ann P. Kryzanek reforge the links between internaUniversity Press of America tional relations, comparative politics Paperback and ebook: $38.99 and foreign policy.

Dawn Satterfield

Above: Dara Satterfield, a doctoral student in the UGA Odum School of Ecology, samples nonmigratory monarchs for protozoan parasites at the Sparrow Field Pollinator Berm in The Landings in Savannah in January 2013.

Right: Satterfield surveys a tropical milkweed garden with citizen scientist Marty Webb in Houston, Texas, in January 2012.

milkweed there can be left in place.

Satterfield’s recommendations are based in part on ongoing research by Altizer and Ania Majewska, an Odum doctoral student and Wormsloe Fellow at the UGA Center for Research and Education at Wormsloe in Savannah, where they are testing butterflies’ responses to native and non-native host plants in a series of experimental pollinator gardens.

Satterfield said that while the chief driver of the monarch’s decline is the loss of native milkweeds in the U.S. and Canada, it’s important to tackle the issue of pathogen transmission in winter-breeding populations.

“Things could get worse for the monarchs if we don’t solve this problem now with the tropical milkweed supporting high levels of disease,” she said.

Gene Webb

ABOUT COLUMNS

CYBERSIGHTS

Columns is available to the campus community by ­subscription for an annual fee of $20 (second-class delivery) or $40 (first-class delivery). Faculty and staff members with a disability may call 706-542-8017 for assistance in obtaining this publication in an alternate format.

Columns staff can be reached at 706-542-8017 or columns@uga.edu

Editor Juliett Dinkins Art Director Janet Beckley Photo Editor Paul Efland Senior Reporter Aaron Hale

Walk Georgia site offers fitness tracking http://www.walkgeorgia.org

UGA Extension’s Walk Georgia program was relaunched Feb. 1.The updated site features fitness tracking and encourages Georgians to increase their activity with dozens of resources like strength training demonstrations, healthy recipes and lists of local fitness amenities. The program aims by 2016 to reduce

obesity in the state by 5 percent.

“We wanted to ensure that Walk Georgia emphasized what citizens already have, which are their local county resources, university-based research and practical knowledge through UGA’s Extension offices,” said Maria Bowie, director of Walk Georgia.

Reporter Matt Chambers Copy Editor David Bill The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action.

The University of Georgia is a unit of the University System of Georgia.

I

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8 Feb. 9, 2015 columns.uga.edu

SCHOLARSHIP from page 1

Robert Newcomb

The new UGA Veterinary Teaching Hospital’s small animal entrance will serve as the main check-in point for small animal hospital clients and their pets when the facility opens in late March. The building will be dedicated Feb. 13 during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

DEDICATION from page 1 Georgia taxpayers and our donors for their support of this project,” Allen said. “The future of veterinary education in Georgia will be well-served through this facility for many years to come.”

The current teaching hospital, built in 1979, handles more than 24,500 visits annually in one of the smallest teaching hospitals in the U.S. In late March, all hospital operations will move to the new site, along with all clinical faculty, hospital staff, clinical support services and third- and fourth-year students. The Veterinary Medical Center officially opens March 25.

First- and second-year students will remain on the main college campus along with the majority of the college’s basic science departments and administrative offices. The UGA Community Practice Clinic, which serves as a wellness clinic for companion

animals in the greater Athens area, also will remain in its current location on campus. The vacated hospital building will be repurposed for much-needed research space and to support first- and second-year instruction.

The Veterinary Medical Center was designed by Perkins+Will and built by Turner Construction Co. Features include a flexible design to meet current needs and to allow for future expansion, a 160-seat auditorium, an 80-seat technology-enabled active learning classroom, two smaller classrooms for teaching students and an enhanced large and small animal hospital outfitted with top-of-the-line equipment and improved functionality.

ON THE WEB

www.vet.uga.edu/new-hospital

Bulletin Board SART protocol training

All UGA faculty and staff are encouraged to register for SART (Sexual Assault Response Team) protocol training. Presented by UGA’s Equal Opportunity Office/Title IX coordinator, it will be held Feb. 19 at 9 a.m. in the Training and Development Center.

Register at http://t.uga.edu/1f4.

The hourlong program will focus on the university’s protocol for appropriately responding to disclosures of sexual misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual assault, by students or other university members.

Issues to be addressed include manners of responding that support a survivor in the disclosure and recovery process; available resources on campus and in the greater community for sexual assault survivors; addressing safety and medical concerns of survivors; which UGA employees have confidentiality and which do not; identification of mandatory reporters and the information they are required to disclose; and options for investigation by law enforcement and/or the Equal Opportunity Office/Title IX coordinator.

SecureUGA training

SecureUGA, an online, self-paced security awareness training program mandated by University System of Georgia policy, is available for all UGA employees to complete by March 31.

This training is required for all employees, including student workers and contractors.

This online training program is at http://secure.uga.edu.

SecureUGA helps UGA employees and contractors understand, identify and respond appropriately to information security threats. Protecting sensitive and restricted data is everyone’s responsibility.

Current employees who previ-

ously have completed SecureUGA can select one of three options to meet the training requirements for SecureUGA. They are a brief refresher module, an opt-out quiz and SecureUGA core module series.

UGA employees who completed SecureUGA on or after Sept. 1, 2014, have completed their SecureUGA training requirement for this cycle.

Those employees are not required to take SecureUGA again during this annual training cycle.

The program recently has been updated with a new look and training modules.

More information about SecureUGA is at http://secure.uga.edu.

Credit Union food drive

The Georgia United Credit Union is holding its annual “Can Hunger” food drive through March 31. Food and money donated locally will benefit ARK United Ministries Outreach Center, which houses the Athens Area Emergency Food Bank.

Donations may be dropped off at either of Georgia United’s Athens branches (190 Gaines School Road or 1710 S. Lumpkin St.). The credit union also will accept monetary donations that will be used to buy food.

The most requested/needed items are peanut butter; canned tuna and chicken; canned fruit and vegetables; canned soups, stews and pasta; 100 percent fruit juice; and boxed pasta and rice.

For the last three years, all 16 Georgia United branches across the state have collected 92,437 cans or 46 tons of food.

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experience I will never forget.”

Scholarships for students in the arts are increasingly important, said Dale Monson, director of the Hodgson School of Music.

“For students seeking a career in the arts, in music, finding scholarship support can be the very key that unlocks the gate of opportunity. Music is such an intense and demanding major, and scholarship support helps our students focus on the skills and coursework that lead to a productive career.

“The vision and generosity of Gregg Allman in establishing this scholarship helps our students to build those bridges that will enable them to succeed in the real world, in a productive career,” Monson also said. “His interest in our educational efforts will bring opportunities to generations of deserving students, and we are enormously grateful.”

The scholarship was one result of a successful Gregg Allman tribute concert at the Fox Theatre in January 2014. Allman and band manager Michael Lehman decided to use the proceeds to benefit the future of music at Syracuse University, where Lehman’s daughter currently attends, and UGA, a place near and dear to Allman, who has a history in Georgia and currently resides in Richmond Hill, near Savannah.

“From the Spotlight on the Arts collaborations to the long list of esteemed rock musicians who call Athens home, the connections between UGA and the music community have never been stronger or more vibrant,” Dorsey said. “We are so glad to have Gregg Allman as part of this community and celebrate his gracious decision to endow this new scholarship.”

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Georgia Science Teachers Association conference held Feb. 5-7 in Macon.

The ultimate goal, said Georgia Hodges, principal investigator of the grant, is to create an interactive game to engage children in science. Along the way, they learn about their own health and the consequences of unhealthy choices.

“Our team is leveraging the best technology to create a learning environment where children are challenged to think critically, by applying the scientific method to help save a very lovable cat named Cookies,” said Hodges, an assistant research scientist in the mathematics and science education department.“The big idea is that we can challenge students to apply mathematical thinking and use the scientific method through use of an interactive, engaging platform.”

Cookies and Cream also help illustrate the effect of Type 2 diabetes and other obesityrelated illnesses, Hodges said, and children learn the science behind these health issues.

“We believe that kids are smart and capable of learning conceptually rich science,” she said.

“We hypothesize that children will make different health choices when equipped with this knowledge.With this project, we’re giving kids a really fun way to learn about Type 2 diabetes.”

The animals are a key part of this process.

Hodges and her team built the program around cats with help from small animal veterinarian and UGA professor Cynthia Ward, who also has a passion for curing Type 2 diabetes.

Dave Nix and Alex Turbyfield, digital artists at the UGA-based educational software company Cogent Education, created the cats and their virtual world. Turbyfield, a recent UGA graduate, has created animated content for the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, theater productions and advertising. Nix recently relocated to Athens from Los Angeles after 18 years in the movie industry, most recently working for DreamWorks SKG. He worked on the animation of feature films such as Shrek and Madagascar.

While the cats’ big eyes may recall the Puss in Boots character from Shrek, the artists are careful to stay true to the science and actual movements of the cats. For example, in one lesson the cats jump; their movement is based on cats jumping in Ward’s office at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine.

Great science curriculum has a story that engages children, Hodges said, and is written from the perspective of scientists. To be sure the content is appropriate for the grade level, more than 1,800 students and 27 third-grade teachers will test it and offer feedback over the next five years.

This research-based approach is key, Hodges said, because many “educational” games for children are too heavy on entertainment, while many others have great content delivered in a way that’s not much different than a two-dimensional textbook.

But having Hollywood-caliber artists on the project adds another level of expertise. For example, even something as simple as a camera angle can change the content.

“You go into a movie to be entertained. You use our product to be educated. The education has to be the star of the show,” Turbyfield said.

“Because of that, you would handle certain animations differently. In the entertainment industry, you might have a very different camera angle that doesn’t offer a lot of educational information.”

our understanding of the most complicated human diseases,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead.“He will continue this critical work alongside a distinguished group of researchers at the CCRC, and we look forward to welcoming him to campus in the fall.”

The CCRC has 16 faculty-led groups working on a variety of research problems, from plants to humans. These include the efficient breakdown of biomass for conversion to biofuels and bioproducts, unraveling of the molecular signaling that controls all biological processes and the development of new diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive treatments for human diseases.

“Dr. Haltiwanger will make an excellent addition to the GRA Academy of Eminent Scholars,” said Michael Cassidy, president and CEO of the Georgia Research Alliance. “He will expand CCRC’s reputation as the home of the world’s largest team of carbohydrate experts, especially at the CCRC’s new Center for Molecular Medicine, which is applying basic research to human disease using clinical and translational approaches.”

At the CCRC, Haltiwanger will help to expand existing or lead new avenues of investigation in cancer, congenital disorders, cardiovascular disease and other important areas of human medicine, including the development of therapies. His expertise also will provide a bridge between the CCRC and the capabilities of the new Center for Molecular Medicine, which includes a program on glycoscience applications to human medicine.

“Dr. Haltiwanger will advance our understanding of biomedical glycobiology and developing new diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive treatments for human diseases,” said Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.

“Dr. Haltiwanger will provide our students with unparalleled instruction and mentorship,” she also said. “He is an important addition to a world-class faculty.”

Haltiwanger’s research currently is supported by over $2.5 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Over the course of his 20-year career, he has garnered more than $10 million in research funding from NIH, the American Cancer Society and the Mizutani Foundation for Glycoscience.

“I look forward to being a part of the research team at the CCRC and working with them toward improving human health through a better understanding of how complex carbohydrates control many critical biological events,” Haltiwanger said.

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to home,” said Zoe M. Johnson, director of multicultural services and programs. “In this way, we will acknowledge the important efforts that our neighbors, classmates, colleagues and friends are doing in our very own communities to advance issues of inclusion and social justice.

“Given the recent events in Missouri and New York, there is a national hunger and critical need for thought, reflection and discourse around the experiences of AfricanAmericans in a way that honors the courage and activism of the past, present and future,” Johnson also said.

See pages 4 and 5 for other events associated with Black History Month at UGA.